


Brave In Love

by lizardwriter



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Curious Archer - Freeform, F/F, Mad Archer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-13 00:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14738792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizardwriter/pseuds/lizardwriter
Summary: Bravery has always been a complex subject for Robin, but someone has come along who's made her understand it in a whole new way, and she's thought up the best way to thank her for that.





	Brave In Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is written (like any Robin/Alice stories I may write) for Brit, aka puppyanimagus. If you for some reason are into this pairing and are NOT reading her pirate girlfriends AU "A Pirate's Life" do yourselves a favor and go check it out because that story gives me life.

Growing up all she had ever wanted to be was brave. 

Her dad had been brave. The bravest. Righting wrongs, running headfirst into danger to save those in need. That’s what the stories she was told about him said. 

She’d never gotten the chance to know him herself. Maybe if she had some of his bravery would’ve rubbed off on her earlier. 

 

When she was little, she’d run around playing the hero during the day, but at night she’d checked repeatedly for monsters in her closet and always had to leap onto her bed for fear of scaly claws wrapping around her ankles and dragging her under should she carelessly get too close. 

She had slept with a nightlight far longer than her peers.

Maybe it was overcompensation, then, that had led her to try to be popular in middle school and high school. Not brave. Not one bit. Trapped in her cowardice, far too cowardly to stand out and be herself. 

She had the right clothes and the right hair and made the right “friends”.

The wrong friends, really. The kind who wouldn’t have had her back at the first sign of trouble. The kind who would have thrown her under the bus rather than helped her out of the way of it. The kind who would have turned their back on her at any indication of independent thinking.

She had hated every second of it, not brave enough to break free. 

 

Then there was her magic phase. She and her mother had butted heads at every turn, but that hadn’t stopped her from wanting to be like her. She’d called it bravery, defying her mother’s wishes and trying to learn magic, but the truth was that she’d been too scared to find her thing, to see if her mother would love her for who she truly was without magic. 

It had almost cost her her mother.

She’d taken up her father’s mantle under the guise of bravery, too. Forcing herself to chase after monsters the likes of which had plagued her nightmares as a child as if that would prove she was worthy. Worthy of being her father’s daughter. Worthy of bearing his name. Worthy of being called brave. 

Her mother knew the truth, though, when she called her stubborn. Headstrong and too stubborn to stop to think about why she did what she did. The bow she carried, never out of arm’s reach, was her bravery. Without it she was naked, a fraud failing to live up to a legend. Without it she was still quaking in her boots at every turn, looking for approval from others so she didn’t have to find it from herself.

Then she met Alice. 

 

Alice who had spent her whole life locked in a tower until a few years prior. Alice who had known so little of the outside world and had set off on adventures through the realms anyway just to try to reunite with her father, just to try to cure his poisoned heart. Alice, who without thinking or trying was exactly the type of brave that Robin had always so desperately wanted to be. Alice, who her dad would have been proud of.

 

The day she’d met Alice, the moment she’d decided to stand up for her rather than work against her, THAT was when Robin had first tasted true bravery. It was funny how in the end it hadn’t been thank yous or praise that had been the reward that she’d craved, but instead, just a simple smile from beautiful girl. 

Even once she’d found Alice, and she’d begun finally finding her footing as a real helper of people, finally starting to truly follow in her father’s footsteps, but for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones, even then she’d felt the cowardice curling around her heart. 

How long had she settled for shy smiles and bringing Alice trinkets before finally making a move? How long had she found excuses to visit Alice before she’d finally asked her out?

Too long.

 

But Alice made her feel bold, whether she deserved to feel such or not. 

Alice with the easy smile and the curious eyes. Alice with her unique way of viewing the world. Alice with the lips as soft as rose petals and the hair that shone like sunshine. Alice who smelled like wildflowers after the rain. Alice who kissed like nobody was watching no matter where they were. 

Alice who made her heart flutter and her knees go weak. 

Alice who terrified her and excited her all in one go. 

Alice who made her think, “Forever”.

 

Alice who she’d almost lost to curses and evil witches.

Alice who she found again and again.

Alice who inspired her, so that when the time came for another adventure, thoughts of being brave or being enough didn’t factor in. All she needed to do was take Alice’s hand and go save the people they cared about.

 

Robin had to find some bravery when she and Hook were faced with unlikely odds in the wish realm, but not to face the well-armed guards. The question had been in her mind for...well, time was kind of tricky between the various curses and realms, but for a while now.

Time seemed like it was running out so she’d dug deep and found the nerve and asked him for his blessing. 

The seconds before he’d answered had ticked by excruciatingly slowly, his face, for a moment, unreadable. 

She’d felt like she could breathe again when he’d finally smiled and consented.  

 

The bravery she’d had to search for then seemed like nothing compared to the bravery she had to conjure up now. 

She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. 

She’d always wanted to be brave right up until the moment when she realized that brave didn’t matter nearly as much as what motivated the bravery. For a while now the answer to what motivated her had been Alice and today, once again, she was the inspiration. 

Today, and, if things went well, everyday for the rest of their lives.

 

Hook’s ship was empty, as she’d known it would be. As they’d planned it would be. It was so still, however, that for a moment she feared Alice hadn’t come. 

“Nobin!” 

Robin laughed at the sound of surprise in Alice’s voice as she dropped down from her perch on the rigging. 

“I was supposed to meet Papa, but it seems he’s running late. What are you doing here?”

Robin looked at Alice’s bright smile and her dazzling blue eyes and the way the wind blew her hair into her face and she felt all her nerves and all her fears melt away. Bravery wasn’t needed, she realized, when she was so very sure of what she wanted. 

“Actually, you’re here to meet me,” Robin replied. 

Alice frowned in confusion. “But Papa sent me a text telling me to be here at -“

“He sent it so that this would be a surprise,” Robin cut her off, taking her hands and lacing their fingers together. 

“This?” Alice asked, her brow still wrinkled adorably as she tried to figure out what was going on. 

Robin grinned and dropped to one knee, giving Alice’s hands a small squeeze as she did so. 

Alice’s eyes went wide in wonder and a small delighted squeal escaped her lips.

“Tower girl,” she began. 

Alice beamed back at her. “Nobin?”

“When I first met you-“

“When you first drew an arrow on me,” Alice teased, and Robin chuckled. 

“Then,” she agreed, “I couldn’t have imagined what you’d come to mean to me. I was still figuring out who I was, still trying to prove that I was worthy of being my father’s daughter.”

Alice nodded, her teasing smile turning to an expression of wonder as she listened.

“Then you came along with your troll befriending and your magic and your unique take on things and you showed me that all I had to be was me. It’s all you’ve ever been.”

Robin frowned. That didn’t sound right. “Yourself, I mean. Not me, obviously.”

Alice smiled again, but the look of wonder stayed in her eyes. 

“You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. You’re selfless and caring and clever and kind. You’re like sunshine personified and you light my days,” Robin gave a suggestive little smirk before adding, “and my nights.”

A faint blush tinged Alice’s cheeks.

“Alice, you’ve made me as brave as I always pretended to be and I’m pretty sure it’s all so that I could make the leap and be bold enough to ask -“ Robin let go of one of Alice’s hands and dug into her pocket for the small box she knew was there. She opened it in her pocket and plucked out the ring. “Will you adventure with me forever,” she opened her hand and held up the ring, “as my wife?”

Alice’s eyes went wide and she let out a small gasp as she stared at the ring. She reached her fingers out to touch it tentatively as if she thought it might not be real. The blue gem that matched her eyes was larger than Robin should have reasonably been able to afford, but they’d told her the price and hadn’t budged when she’d protested that it was too little.    
Robin waited, her heart pounding in her chest, but Alice didn’t say a word. “I was kind of hoping for an answer here,” Robin prompted. 

Alice nodded. “Yes,” she said, emotion straining her voice. “Yes, I will marry you and adventure with you wherever and whenever life takes us.”

Robin smiled so wide that her cheeks ached as she quickly slid the ring onto Alice’s finger and surged to her feet to kiss Alice deeply.

Robin heard a loud pop behind her and turned to see Hook and her mom walking up the gangplank with a bottle of champagne that was bubbling over. 

“I should’ve known you wouldn’t give me your ship all to myself,” Robin sighed but she was so elated that Alice had said yes that she didn’t really mind one bit.

“We just thought you deserved to celebrate immediately,” Hook replied. 

Her mother produced four champagne flutes from behind her back and pulled her into a tight hug, careful not to smush the glasses between them. “Congratulations, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Robin replied, unable to contain her smile.

“I’m so happy for you, Starfish,” Hook said beside her, hugging Alice tightly. 

It warmed Robin’s heart to see him able to do so without the poison in his heart. 

“And congratulations, future daughter-in-law,” Zelena said, releasing Robin to pull Alice into a hug as soon as Hook had let her go. 

“She stole my line,” Hook said with a sheepish smile to Robin. He held open his arms and Robin stepped into the embrace gladly, not minding when a bit of champagne spilled on her shirt. 

“Thank you,” Robin said, feeling as if joy was emanating from her pores, she was so happy. 

“Thank you, Zelena,” Alice echoed sounding a little choked up. 

“Well, shall we celebrate? Who wants champagne?” Hook asked, stepping back.

“Me!” Alice and Robin chorused, Alice coming back to stand beside her and linking their pinky fingers in the process, swinging their hands happily between them. 

Zelena distributed the flutes and Hook poured. 

“A toast, to the happy couple!” he declared, holding up his glass. 

Robin looked at Alice, who beamed back at her. 

“Cheers,” Robin said in a tone of voice that made the underlying “I love you” evident. 

“Cheers,” Alice replied, tapping her glass gently against Robin’s with a small *clink*.

More *clinks* were heard as the glasses touched in every combination and then Robin took a sip, the bubbles tickling her nose as she did so. 

Her mother came back to her slide and slipped an arm around her. “You know, I couldn’t help but overhear your proposal.”

“What, you mean as you eavesdropped? Imagine that!”

Her mother let out a small laugh. “Okay, fair enough. But I wanted to say: you’ve always been far braver than you’ve given yourself credit for.”

Robin shook her head. “Maybe now with Alice by my side, but I’ve always just pretended to be brave to cover my fears.”

Her mother smiled kindly at her. “You can’t be brave without fears to overcome, sweetheart.”

“She’s right,” Alice agreed, pressing a kiss to Robin’s cheek. “And now we get to overcome our fears together,” she added brightly.

“Forever,” Robin agreed. 

Alice grinned. “Brave in love. I can’t wait.”


End file.
